I am an NRA certified Basic Pistol Instructor and Range Safety Officer. I volunteer as an RSO at the club where I shoot, so I end up meeting a lot of new shooters.
When I work with beginning shooters, my focus is on safety and on the basic fundamentals of shooting. I don't discuss defensive skills or tactics. In fact, I don't allow anyone to do anything quickly until they have the basics down solidly. This does not happen on the first day.
My first goals with a new shooter are to teach them how to pick up a firearm and check that it is clear without touching the trigger in the process. This may be boring, but it is key for safety. "Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire" is the central point of the first lesson.
A while ago, I read an interesting article from an expert trainer who said "If you only had 30 minutes to instruct a total beginner, and he would need to defend his home based on your training, what would you teach him?" His point was that if you spend training time on things that don't meet this need, then you are making poor use of training time. This trainer has a valid point, but I disagree with it. If you spend the first hour on basics of defense, then your students will not have the skills to safely go to a range and train.
My focus is on making sure everyone I work with is safe on the range. We start with safety practices and marksmanship fundamentals. There are many other skills that a developing shooter will need, but they come after the basic fundamentals. Mastering more advanced skills will require significant training time, and that is just the way it is.
I wrote a couple of articles with guidance for people who want to mentor new shooters. These articles include a general lesson plan for new shooters and give a good overview of my philosophy on this subject. You will certainly find other qualified people with differing views on this subject, but I do have some experience in this area.
The articles are available on my blog.
Bringing New Shooters to the Range
Making a Lesson Plan for New Shooters